Oxygen Links With Wendy Williams

Kicking off months of upfront events, Oxygen said it has reached a sprawling agreement with talk show host Wendy Williams that includes development and production roles. The network said it
will expand original programming to three nights a week from two.

Williams will executive produce a series that might be described as the opposite of MTV’s “Punk’d”
without the edge. In “Secret Celebrity,” the celebrities do the surprising of “unsuspecting fans, friends and family.”

Williams is also slated to appear as a guest
judge on the forthcoming reality-competition series “The Face,” which starts next week and has received heavy promotion. The network will air a Google+ Hangout on-air this week to back
it.

Separately, Oxygen said a talk show that looks to poke fun at pop-culture newsmakers titled “This Week The Award Goes To …” is on tap.

Returning
series include “I’m Having Their Baby” and “Best Ink.”

Oxygen intends to boost original content produced for mobile platforms.